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Hird to admit receiving injections: report

Essendon coach James Hird is expected to tell anti-doping authorities he received two injections from sports scientist Stephen Dank, but they were for health reasons.

News Limited reports Hird believes the injections, administered around March last year, were harmless and legal amino acids.

He will meet Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) investigators on Tuesday and tell them he took the injections because he was feeling sick, a source says.

Dank has claimed Hird was injected with growth hormone-releasing drug Hexarelin, a substance that was banned for players, plunging the Bombers into a fresh crisis over last year's player supplements program.

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There were reports on the ABC and Nine Network on Thursday of alleged text messages strongly suggesting Hird received considerable detail about the AFL club's controversial supplements program from Dank.

The text messages, if genuine, show that Hird and Dank were in regular contact about the program.

In early February, when Essendon announced they had gone to the AFL with concerns about the supplements program, Hird said he was "shocked" about the matter.

In the messages reported by the ABC's 7.30 Report, Dank refers to intravenous, or "IV", treatments - which could be banned under World Anti-Doping Agency and AFL rules.

On March 9, they reportedly had the following exchange:

Hird - "Good work today mate, the boys were up and about, we have a lot to work with.

Dank - "IVs start next week and Thymosin with Uniquinon. We will start to see some real effects.

Then between March 27-28:

Dank - "That is the IV list that will be completed by Wednesday night.

Hird - "Good work mate, (name deleted) rang me tonight and said how good he felt after he saw you."

On April 3, Dank detailed more substances:

"We have cerebrolysin, we will re-oxygenate and re-circulate the brain. We will also be getting Solcoseryl."

Meanwhile, a Melbourne doctor who authorised blood tests for Essendon players at the request of Mr Dank has told The Age he felt it was "weird" he was used and not Essendon's long-serving club doctor.

The club doctor, Bruce Reid, has been interviewed at length by ASADA over his concerns about the supplement program, the paper says.